Phone-in: Police Commissioner sees traffic grievances

A caller from Falnir Road in the City grieved that the main road regularly witnesses traffic jams near Unity Hospital and at Avery Junction. He urged the Commissioner to deploy police personnel during peak hours.

A woman from Padil complained about autorickshaw drivers operating from Padil not using meters for journeys in the surrounding areas. For a 1.5-km journey, they collect Rs. 40, she said.

Police Commissioner Suresh asked the caller to provide the registration number of the vehicle to the police control room so as to initiate action even as he said police would ask autorickshaw drivers in Padil to collect fares strictly in accordance with the meter.

Another caller from Maravoor said conductors of city buses, operating in the area, collected excess fare. One more caller from Marnamikatte urged the police to ensure city bus connectivity between Mangaluru Junction Railway Station and the city.

“It is still to be seen, what action can come when conductors evade the ticket question in city buses,” said a person who called during the weekly phone-in programme on August 24, Friday when Police Commissioner T.R. Suresh promised action against erring city bus conductors who do not issue tickets to passengers.

“Conductors grudgingly and in anger give ticket when asked for these days,” a regular passenger from Neermarga, a suburb of Mangaluru told the Commissioner.

"What you have done is right and other passengers should also demand,” PC Suresh told the caller even as he said the City Traffic Police have booked several cases against conductors for not issuing tickets.

The drive will be intensified and the police will see that every bus conductor issues tickets to passengers, the Commissioner promised.